Forever and a Day
by Ebony-Jayne
Summary: It all gets to be too much for one CSI to handle...Complete.
1. Letters

_Chapter One: Letters_

_Dear Grissom,_

_I'll miss you. I fell in love with you that first day in Vegas and I never stopped. I told you that one day it might be too late. It's too late now. I'm sorry Grissom._

_Love Sara._

_Dear Warrick,_

_We got off on the wrong foot at first. But you have been a wonderful friend to me. Thank you so much and I'm so sorry._

_From Sara_

_Dear Catherine,_

_I always admired you Cat. Strong, intelligent, beautiful, determined, all things I never was and always wanted to_

_be. Take care of yourself and your little girl. I'm so sorry it had to be this way._

_From Sara_

_Dear Nick,_

_You are a wonderful friend. I'll miss you the most of all. Thank you for everything you've one for me. I'm so sorry about this Nick._

_From Sara_

_Dear Greg,_

_Someday you'll make some girl very happy. You've been a great friend to me and I'm sorry I wasn't a very good one to you . I'm sorry._

_From Sara_

Tears dripped onto the paper as she wrote a very short letter to each member of the team. She put each letter in an envelope with the person's name on it. She took one last long look around the empty apartment before picking up her backpack and car keys.


	2. Gone

Chapter Two: Gone 

"Sara is never late," Catherine mumbled worriedly heading for her Denali. She was assigned to a B&E gone bad with Nick, who was already at the scene, and Sara who hadn't showed up. She got into her Denali and headed towards Sara's apartment.

Inside Sara's apartment Catherine was shocked to find it empty aside from a couple of pieces of furniture and five envelopes on a small coffee table. One had her name on it. She read the enclosed letter and was moved to tears by what she read. Sara was gone. Sara had always thought that she was strong, intelligent, beautiful and determined. Catherine gathered up the other envelopes and with a heavy heart drove back to CSI.

Grissom, Warrick, and Nick entered the break room and found Catherine curled up on the couch, crying.

"Cath, what's wrong," Warrick asked worriedly. Catherine let out a quiet sob and pointed to the envelopes on the table. The guys each picked up their own one and read.

"She's gone?" Warrick's voice cracked.

"Someone should take Greg's one to him," Nick stated, holding back tears. Grissom walked away and locked himself in his office. Nick picked up the fifth letter and went to find Greg. Warrick hugged Catherine tightly.

"She said she thinks that I'm beautiful and intelligent and determined and strong," Catherine sobbed. "I always thought she was all those things."

"I know Cath. I know," Warrick murmured, a few stray tears running down his cheeks into Catherine's hair.

" No. No. No. She's not gone. She can't be gone! Nick! She just can't," Greg howled angrily.

"I know man. None of us saw this coming," Nick said to him. Greg took off out of the DNA lab and disappeared for quite a while. Nick headed back to the break room to see Warrick and Catherine.

In his office Grissom choked back a sob. He loved her too. Now he really was too late. He wondered where she'd gone. Maybe back to Tamales Bay or San Francisco. He wished he hadn't been so outright stupid. He should have gone out to dinner with her. He should have told her he was in love with her. He was an idiot. He'd let fear rule his heart and he had turned her down. Now she had left. In his brain he had hope that she'd change her mind but in his heart he knew it wasn't likely that she would.


	3. Cold Dread

Chapter Three: Cold Dread

Two days after Sara had gone Grissom got a call while he was at a scene. The whole team was working the scene – a suspicious fire in a pub that had killed eleven people.

"Grissom," he greeted.

"Hi Mr. Grissom," a female voice greeted him. "I'm Sara Sidle's Landlady. I wondered if you knew how I could reach her?" the woman asked.

"No I don't sorry. Uh can I ask why?" Grissom inquired.

"Well she took a few small thing with her that were in the apartment when she arrived," the lady explained. "Doesn't really matter though. They were just insignificant little things."

"Like what?" Grissom asked.

"Oh…um…a set of sheets, a shower curtain and…um… oh yeah a knife out of a six set," the lady told him.

"Jesus Christ," he quickly and politely ended the call after that.

"Griss? You OK?" Warrick asked.

"Uh, yeah. Fine," Grissom lied.

Grissom worried non-stop for the rest of the shift. She didn't want to kill herself. Did she? Of course not. She'd accidentally picked up those things. Accident. Yep. She was probably with her family now. Safe and sound. Perfectly alive and perfectly well. She would start a new life and be very happy. 'Or she'll kill herself' the thought wouldn't leave him alone. Every phone call he received he expected it to be someone telling him they'd found her body.

Just about an hour before the end of shift Grissom's phone rang. It was Brass.

"Gil come to Devil's Smile. Now. Bring the rest of the team," Brass' voice was cracked up.

"Right," he said quietly. He hung up, feeling as though someone was using his heart as a stress ball. He went into the break room. "Everyone in my Denali. Now," he ordered.


	4. Fallen Angel

Chapter Four: Fallen Angel

On arrival at Devil's Smile the first thing they saw was Brass. His eyes were red and puffy. He didn't say a word just led them over to a clump of bushes. She was lying in the fetal position on top of a clear shower curtain with a sheet over top of her. The knife was still in her left hand, covered in blood. Sara and the sheets were absolutely drenched in blood. She had slit both of her wrists deeply. Catherine began sobbing. Horrible wracking sobs. Her legs gave out and she managed to crawl over to her colleague and started to gently stroke her soft dark hair. She touched Sara's cheek softly. She was so cold. Warrick and Nick also kneeled beside Sara. Nick leaned over and kissed her forehead before heading back to Grissom's Denali unable to look at her body anymore.

Warrick was crying too but not sobbing like Catherine. He also kissed Sara's forehead and went back to the Denali.

Catherine stayed for another five minutes whispering, mostly incoherently, to Sara about how she wouldn't have to be sad now but the ones she left behind would. She told Sara that she had always thought that _she_ was the strong, intelligent, beautiful and determined one. The last thing she whispered before she left to join the boys was "I'll miss you so much. Goodbye Sara…"

Grissom crouched in front of her. Tears ran silently down his cheeks weaving into every line he'd accumulated over the years. He mimicked Nick and Warrick's actions, kissing her forehead. But before he left he whispered " I love you Sara. Always and forever." Then he walked away.

Brass stood back and watched on sadly as the devastated team said goodbye to their fallen Angel.

Grissom climbed into his Denali. The boys were in the back both staring at their hands tears flowing freely. Catherine was curled up in the front seat, still sobbing, staring out the window away from where the action was. Grissom started the car and headed back toward Vegas. After ten minutes of driving he pulled over to the side of the road unable to see through his tears. He cut he ignition and rested his head against the steering wheel, tears dripping onto the plastic and off onto his pants. Catherine leaned her head against his shoulder wrapping her arms around his right arm and Grissom felt the huge tremors running through little blonde from her sobs.

Back at the lab the air was somber. Grissom ran into Conrad Ecklie in the corridor.

"I am so so sorry Grissom. So so sorry," Ecklie said quietly. He couldn't meet the night shift supervisor's eyes.

"Me too Ecklie. Me too," Grissom murmured back. He excused himself and headed to get his things from his office.

Five people went home that night and grieved for the friend and colleague they had lost. They berated themselves for not knowing how sad Sara had been. How they'd had no idea whatsoever about what she had obviously planned to do. Each person left with a gaping hole that used to be filled by a leggy brunette with dark chocolate eyes and a pretty gap toothed grin.


	5. Memorial

Chapter Five: Memorial

When they went back into the office after Sara's funeral Grissom, Catherine, Warrick, Nick and Greg set up a little Memorial table for Sara. They had bought a little mahogany table and a matching mahogany picture frame. Sara's mother had given them a beautiful photo of her daughter smiling in front of a sparkling lake to put in the frame. Then they had put the frame at the back and surrounded it with candles and various symbols. There was an amulet of Catherine's, an ankh, several little glass angels and two little white wooden crosses. It looked beautiful.

One of Ecklie's girls, Kaitlin Wilkin, came in while they were staring at their table.

"Hi. Can I put this on your little table?" Kaitlin asked timidly. She held out a pretty little amethyst amulet. "I knew Sara and she liked my amulet." Kaitlin's lip trembled a little and they could see her fighting tears.

"It's Kaitlin isn't it? Of course you can," Grissom told her. She silently moved forward and placed the amulet on the table.

"Thanks," she whispered before fleeing into the arms of one of Ecklie's other girls, Marina Webber, who was waiting for her. Ecklie came in next and stood looking at the table for a while.

"Nice. You can leave it there for as long as you want. None of my shift will mind it. I'll make sure of that," he mumbled. He thought of how he used to dislike Sara and realized that he'd liked to dislike her. He was really missing the feisty brunette and her sharp tongue and rolling eyes.

Ten years later Nick, as the last CSI to resign from Grissom's original shift, finally removed the table from the break room and took it home. They had made a pact that the last person to resign could keep it. Nick planned to give it to Grissom though. He couldn't exactly keep it in his house now that he was married.

Grissom had left first, securing himself a teaching job in New York two years after Sara died.

Then Warrick had moved to Miami scoring himself a job on Horatio Caine's team, which was now led by Calleigh Duquesne as Horatio had resigned a year before. That was four years after Sara's death.

Next to go was Catherine. She had married a really nice guy who taught in an Early Childhood Center in Los Angeles. Lindsey was planning to study at UNLA. That was year six after Sara died.

Then Greg had left with his wife Kaitlin (Wilkin) and their eight-week-old daughter Sara. He was a CSI 3 and was going to work at CSI in Nebraska. He and Kaiti had decided that Nebraska was a better place to raise a baby than Las Vegas. Year eight after Sara's death.

Now Nick had decided to move back to Texas with his new wife Elizabeth. He'd decided he'd go and study birds at the Dallas University. Other than that he and Liz were going to get a ranch up and running something they'd both always wanted to do.

They remained close even though they were far apart. They were all happy and healthy and everyone knew why. They had a very special angel watching over them. An angel who would be with them in their hearts and in their lives forever and a day.


End file.
